With its new start-stop coasting function, Bosch enables drivers of vehicles with combustion engines to travel in zero-emission, noise-free and low-resistance mode over large parts of their journey. This new technology stops the engine when the vehicle is in motion, so that it does not consume any fuel. Whenever the vehicle can maintain its speed simply by rolling – for instance on a gentle incline – the engine is stopped. As soon as the driver touches the gas or brake pedal, the engine starts up again.
Tests carried out by Bosch have shown that combustion engines run needlessly about 30 percent of the time, meaning that the vehicle could simply coast for about a third of every journey. Although these phases are not taken into account in the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), under real traffic conditions the function will give drivers roughly 10 percent fuel savings.
“The start-stop coasting function is affordable, can be combined with any type of combustion engine, and substantially reduces fuel consumption,” said Dr. Rolf Bulander, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH.
Bosch says much of what makes the system innovative is its enhanced software and the use it makes of existing sensor data. Furthermore, the start-stop starter has been configured to cope with greater loads and to deliver faster restarts. In other respects, the system requires few additional components and can be integrated in just about any vehicle in the world. Whether they drive diesel-powered cars in Europe, gasoline models in North America or CNG-powered vehicles in Asia, drivers everywhere stand to benefit from the new technology, according to Bosch, as does the environment. After all, reduced fuel consumption also means lower CO2 emissions.
In Germany, some three million new vehicles were sold in 2012. According to statistics, the annual average distance driven is around 11,500 kilometers. If every new car were equipped with the coasting system and emitted just 10 grams less CO2 per kilometer as a result, the theoretical annual reduction in CO2 would amount to more than 30,000 metric tons, according to Bosch’s estimations.
